Dow Jones Expands Factiva Content Sources in New Zealand(Dow Jones)
Dow Jones announced Factiva, its news aggregation platform for business-critical info, has doubled its regional content sources in New Zealand, providing customers with access to more than 50 additional major newspapers and local publications across 11 regions, including Hauraki Herald, Queenstown Mirror and Wairarapa News.

GateHouse Media and Motor Racing Network Launch New Relationship (GateHouse Media, LLC)
With this relationship, GateHouse Media will launch racing sections across every GateHouse Media daily publication website. These sections will feature continuous racing coverage from both MRN and GateHouse Media publications operating in major NASCAR markets. The sections will feature daily news, podcasts and video.

Staff Updates:

Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.John Newby has been appointed publisher of The Muskogee Phoenix.

Tribune Publishing Rajiv Pant has been appointed as Tribune Publishing’s first Chief Product, Technology and User Experience Officer.

Mohit Pandey has been named Tribune Publishing’s Senior Vice President of Engineering and Mobile.

NAA Announcements:

NAA 2015 “Black Friday” Ads for Members Now Available
Shoppers say local newspapers are the best place to get information about Black Friday sales, store hours and special offers. Download and run this ad to promote your newspaper as the Ultimate Holiday Shopping Guide! Download now.

Newspaper Association of America Announces Third Annual Accelerator Pitch Program
The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) is now accepting submissions for its third annual Accelerator Pitch program at NAA mediaXchange 2016, which will take place April 17-20, 2016, at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC. Winners will have the opportunity to pitch their businesses to 1,000 newspaper media industry executives and their colleagues. Read more.

What We’re Reading:

‘Change Needed for Commenting That Favors the “Verified”‘ (New York Times)
In emails, in online comments and even in that wonder of our time called face-to-face conversation, I hear a lot about Times readers’ frustration with the existence of “verified commenters.” These few hundred people whose comments are posted without moderation can end up dominating the reader commenting system, causing resentment among thousands of others.

‘A virtual reality revolution, coming to a headset near you’ (New York Times)
By 2025, the market for virtual reality content will be $5.4 billion. Early adopters are already experimenting with VR’s use in the music industry, creating behind-the-scenes views of Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die,” for example; filmmaking, sports and journalism.

‘TV ad revs strong in October, digital soars’ (Media Post)
Digital media spend was up 34% year over year, with social media more than doubling the previous year’s ad buys at 129% and video growing by 70%. Newspaper ad revenue rose by 6% and TV revenue improved by 11%.

‘To prioritize social media, recruit your newsroom’s digital natives as SNS’(GateHouse Newsroom)
Newsroom leaders hoping to pave the way toward digital-first transformation in their newsrooms will find it difficult to do so without a willingness to experiment with ever-changing digital and social tools that is shared by their reporters. Lenore Devore, editor of The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida, realized that her newsroom had enough social media gurus in its midst to effectively reach all of its reporters.

‘How publishers use Snapchat outside of the Discover feature’ (Digiday)
Outlets including Mic, The Washington Post, The Verge and The Huffington Post are using the platform’s Story feature to share news updates, behind-the-scenes access to an event or breaking news coverage to engage directly with Millennials.